Welcome!
Dear Readers,
We are very pleased to publish this first Newsletter of the FLOURISH Erasmus Mundus Master Programme Resilience in Educational Contexts. As we send out this newsletter, we have welcomed the first cohort of 18 students following the Joint Master Programme at the University of Malta in October 2023. This is the first international Joint Master in Resilience in Educational Contexts, and during the six years of this Erasmus Mundus project, we look forward to welcoming several students from all over the world who will one day be leaders in their own countries in promoting resilience in educational settings. We have also opened the call for scholarship applications for the second edition of the programme which will start in October 2024. Through this newsletter, we plan to keep in regular contact with you about developments and updates in the Flourish project and the Joint Master in Resilience in Educational Contexts.
Professor Carmel Cefai
FLOURISH Project Coordinator
Introduction to the Erasmus Mundus Master Program
Program Overview: The Joint Master Degree in Resilience in Educational Contexts seeks to build the capacity of educators and practitioners to promote and nurture the resilience of children and young people from vulnerable and marginalised backgrounds. Resilience serves as a leverage for equity, promoting inclusion and ensuring that all school students will be provided with the opportunity to be successful and thrive academically, socially and emotionally. For more information on the program, please proceed to this link:
https://flourishproject.mt/programme/objectives-learning-outcomes/
Partner Institutions
The following institutions are the leading partner universities involved in delivering the Master in Resilience in Educational Contexts.
THE UNIVERSITY OF MALTA (UM), the project coordinator, is the leading higher education institution in Malta, with 12,500 students, 1,500 foreign/exchange students from nearly 92 different countries, following full-time or part-time degree and diploma courses. Around 3,500 students graduate each year.
THE UNIVERSITY OF CRETE, Greece (UC) is a multi-disciplinary, research-oriented public educational institution with16 Departments in 5 Schools and several affiliated institutions.
THE UNIVERSITY OF LISBON (UL) is one of the major institutions of Higher Education in Europe and one of the leading universities in Portugal, comprising 18 Schools with teaching and research units and around 50,000 students.
THE UNIVERSITY STEFAN CEL MARE SUCEAVA (USV), Romania is a research and higher education institution in the North-Eastern region of the country, providing various educational programmes to about 10,000 students.
For more information on the partner universities, please proceed to the following link:
https://flourishproject.mt/about-us/degree-awarding-partners/
Meet the Team
The Joint Master in Resilience in Educational Contexts involves resilience experts from all over the world. In this section, we will meet the four directors of the programme.
PROF CARMEL CEFAI, PhD
Director of the Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health, and Professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Malta.
‘This is a two years full-time course integrating theory, research and practice in resilience in educational contexts, with a particular focus on a systemic, transdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspective. Students do at least three mobilities in different higher educational institutions in the EU. The first mobility takes place at the University of Malta (semester 1) where students will cover the foundational and other core study units in resilience in educational settings. This is followed by two other mobilities at the Universities of Crete, Lisbon and Suceava, and the last semester will be focused on the dissertation.’
PROF ANASTASSIOS, MATSOPOULOS, PHD
Associate Professor of School Psychology, University of Crete, and a bilingual permanently certified school psychologist in the US, Greece and Cyprus.
‘The University of Crete (UOC) will be delivering the second semester of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Resilience in Educational Contexts starting in mid-February 2024. The launch (September 28, 2023) and reception of the FLOURISH project by the academic community of UOC was enthusiastic as this new degree has as a foundation the transdisciplinary approach in Higher Education and in the field of prevention, promoting at the same time extroversion and global outreach of European Universities.’
PROF CELESTE SIMOES, PHD
Associate Professor in special education and rehabilitation at the Faculty of Human Kinetics, the University of Lisbon in Lisbon, Portugal
‘The University of Lisbon would like to welcome all students of the Erasmus Mundus joint master program, “Resilience in educational contexts”, and wish all the best for this incredible academic and personal experience! In Portugal, two schools of the University of Lisbon are enrolled: the Faculty of Human Kinetics and the Institute of Education, which are responsible for teaching, hosting, and supporting students. At the University of Lisbon, students will have mandatory study units in the third-semester related to the health and well-being of professionals and the observation and practice placements. They will also have elective SU to choose which are dedicated to Mind and Body Practices in Schools, Behavior Management and Change at Schools, Projects Management and Entrepreneurship, Resilience in Occupational Systems and Family-Community-School Relationship and Diversity.’
PROF AURORA ADINA COLOMEISCHI, PHD
Professor at Faculty of Educational Sciences with 20 years’ experience as a teacher, counsellor, teacher educator and researcher, from the University Stefanan Cel Mare, Suceava, Romania
‘Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava will deliver the third semester, mainly focused on the practice and placement and the integrative ways of promoting resilience for professionals. The electives proposed by USV are related to the contemporary approach of positive psychology in education and the possibilities to build up networks for sustaining social support. The entire academic community is eager to host the international students ERASMUS MUNDUS and to develop together good opportunities to learn and grow! Dream, Create, Innovate! Is the principle of Suceava University, so all the students are welcome to pursue their dreams, to create their own future and to innovate for enhancing quality of life!’
For more information, please check out the following link:
https://flourishproject.mt/about-us/teaching-and-visiting-staff/
Student Cohort Highlights
The 18 students, who have joined the first edition of the Master in Resilience in Educational Contexts in October 2023, come from very diverse backgrounds from Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladeshi, Colombia, Filipino, Greece, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexican, Moldova, Nepalese, Nigerian, Pakistani, Turkey and United States.
Group photo of the first cohort of students reading for the Joint Master in Resilience in Educational Contexts at the University of Malta Main Campus
The students have previously read into a wide variety of courses from education, teaching, sociology, psychology and community development. In this first newsletter we meet Farhana Yesmin and Ceren Kurtdere, the student representatives. Please check out the short interview with them:
Information seminars for the first edition of the programme
Throughout 2023, the four universities in the Flourish Project have been promoting the project and the Joint Master in Resilience in Educational Contexts through information sessions.
University of Malta, 26th April 2023, Valletta, Malta
University of Lisbon, May 4th, 2023, Lisbon, Portugal
Stefan Cel Mare University, 19th June 2023, Suceava, Romania
University of Crete, 28th September 2023, Rethymno, Crete, Greece
Important Dates and Upcoming Events
The new call for applications for the second edition has opened and will remain open for scholarship applications till the 31st of December 2023. Applications for self-funding are open till Friday 28th June 2024. Follow this link to apply:
https://flourishproject.mt/applications/apply-online/
For any queries, please contact us:
[email protected]
